[한국강사신문 한상형 기자] According to Yonhap News, Son Heung-min (31, Tottenham), who took off his face protection mask on the first day of the new year, revealed the reason why he played the game wearing the protector once more a few days later.
In an interview published by the British Evening Standard on the 6th (Korean time), Son Heung-min explained that he continued to wear a mask because of his parents’ concerns and the advice of medical staff.
He suffered an orbital fracture during a match between Marseille (France) and the European Football Federation (UEFA) Champions (UCL) in November last year and was on the operating table.
Since the mask covers the area around the eyes, there are bound to be inconveniences such as narrowing the field of vision.
Son Heung-min said, “It’s definitely different from when I played without a mask. My eyesight is fine, but when the ball comes to me, I get annoyed because I can’t see the ball because of the mask.” no,” he said.
In the end, Son Heung-min took off his mask in the 19th minute of the first half in the 18th round of the 2022-2023 English Professional Football Premier League (EPL) with Aston Villa on the 1st, and ran with his bare face until the end of the game.
He recalled the situation at the time, saying, “I was receiving the ball, but suddenly I mightn’t see it, so I missed it. I was really frustrated and angry.”
However, in the 19th round once morest Crystal Palace on the 5th, Son Heung-min wore a mask once more and played full-time. In the 27th minute of the second half, he took off his mask for a while and roared to his heart’s content only when he scored a goal that broke the silence of the goal for regarding 3 months.
Son Heung-min said, “If I were alone, of course I would have taken off my mask and played. But my parents, family and friends are all worried. There is a possibility of bumping into someone once more.” Before and following) I was eating dinner and he asked me, ‘What happened to the mask?
“The medical team also said, ‘It’s your choice, but we recommend wearing a mask,’ because it’s only been 7 weeks since the surgery and the risk is still high,” he added.
When asked how long he should wear the mask, Son Heung-min replied, “Let’s see.”
Meanwhile, he said that the goal once morest Crystal Palace relieved the burden on his shoulders. This goal was the 4th goal in the league (the 6th goal of the season) in 9 matches following scoring a hat-trick once morest Leicester City in September of last year.
Son Heung-min said, “To be honest, ‘frustration’ is the wrong word. I felt sorry for my colleagues and fans because I had higher expectations than I had done before.” Do it. That’s the most important thing.”
